Kurdistan +100: Stories from a Future State

by Orsola Casagrande (Editor), Mustafa Gündogdu (Editor)

Overview

Kurdistan +100 poses a question to thirteen contemporary Kurdish writers: might the Kurds have a country to call their own by the year 2046—exactly a century after the last glimmer of independence (the short-lived Kurdish Republic of Mahabad)? Or might the struggle for independence have taken new turns and new forms?

Throughout the twentieth century (and so far in the twenty-first), the Kurds have been betrayed, suppressed, stripped of their basic rights (from citizenship to the freedom to speak their own language) and had their political aspirations crushed at every turn.

In this groundbreaking anthology, Kurdish authors (including several former political prisoners, and one currently serving a 183-year sentence for his views) imagine a freer future, one in which it is no longer effectively illegal to be a Kurd. From future eco-activism, to drone warfare, to the resuscitation of victims of past massacres, these stories explore different sides of the present struggle through the metaphor of futurism to dazzling effect.

Featuring Qadir Agid, Yıldız Çakar, Selahattin Demirtaş, Ömer Dilsoz, Muharrem Erbey, Nariman Evdike, Ava Homa, Hüseyin Karabey, Karzan Kardozi, Sema Kaygusuz, Jahangir Mahmoudveysi, Meral Şimşek, and Jîl Şwanî.

Translated by Amy Spangler, Nicholas Glastonbury, Andrew Penny, Mustafa Gundogdu, Rojin Hamo, Khazan Jangiz, Harriet Paintin, Darya Najim, Dibar Çelik, and Kate Ferguson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646052806
Publisher:	Deep Vellum Publishing
Publication date:	08/20/2024
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Orsola Casagrande is a Venetian journalist, film-maker and curator. She worked for 25 years for the Italian daily newspaper il manifesto, and is co-editor of the web magazine Global Rights. Currently based in the Basque country, Orsola writes regularly on Kurdish, Turkish and Basque politics and culture for the Basque daily paper Berria, among others. She has translated numerous books, as well as written her own.

Mustafa Gündoğdu was born in the city of Dersim, and is currently based in London. He has worked as a coordinator for various human rights and conflict resolution NGOs over 20 years, where his roles included in-house translator (working on over 100 books and articles). He has since worked as a freelance editor and second reader on a number of Kurdish translations, including Sara: My Whole life Was a Struggle by Sakine Cansız translated by Janet Biehl (Pluto) and Uprising, Suppression, Retribution by Ahmet Kahraman translated by Andrew Penny (Taderon). He is one of the founding members and former Coordinator of London Kurdish Film Festival, and has organized Kurdish film festivals and screenings in London, New York, Dublin, Glasgow, Istanbul, and Busan. He is the author of numerous articles on Kurdish cinema published in Kurdish, Turkish, English, and Korean.

Editorial Reviews

An Electric Literature Best Short Story Collection of 2024

"Kurdistan +100: Stories from a Future State imagines a freer future for Kurds, one that sees independence as a possibility by 2046—a century after Kurds last had independence through the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad. Exploring subjects such as eco-activism, drone warfare, and retroactive social justice, this anthology of stories writes against the boundaries of what’s possible." —Electric Literature

"A brilliant idea for an anthology… Futurism is one of SF’s most important tools, allowing—even compelling—writers and readers to look at the present from a new angle in order to imagine the future." —The Morning Star

"There is unity to be found in the cause. The questions of how much SF can, does, or should seek to influence reality are eternal and vexed but an anthology like Kurdistan +100 makes you hope that in the end, something might change." —Locus Magazine

"The Kurdish spirit and yearning for self-independence and autonomy cannot be extinguished, and this spirit is displayed beautifully in the anthology Kurdistan +100: Stories from a Future Republic… To read an anthology of Kurdish stories in the English language makes this an immediate treasure." —The New Arab

"Before we can begin to speculate on what a truly alternative future might look like, we must first find ways to reckon with the past. Kurdistan +100 is a landmark step along the way." —The Markaz Review

"Whenever and however a future Kurdish nation might come to pass, the stories in this collection remain: to be read, re-read, and remembered." —M Lynx Qualey

From the Publisher